Halloween During the Civil War

Here is a photo from the October 26, 1861 edition of Harper’s Weekly. It is called “Jeff Davis, Reaping the Harvest” and shows Confederate President Jefferson Davis standing in a field gathering crops with skulls on top of them.

If you check out the high resolution version, you can really find some cool things in the image. Can you and your students find:

All of the skulls?

The snake

The noose

The vulture

More questions for deeper thinking:

Why would the paper portray Jefferson Davis in this manner?

What is the significance of the various objects hidden in the image?

What is Jefferson Davis actually reaping?

Just another quick and easy way to integrate primary sources into your classroom.